The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #161975 Message #3852933
Posted By: Steve Gardham
28-Apr-17 - 05:27 PM
Thread Name: Origins: 'The huntsman'
Subject: RE: Origins: 'The huntsman'
Whilst not immediately identifying these lyrics with a particular song, all of the phrases are those used in thousands of such pieces written by the London lyricists of the 18th century who provided songs for the theatres and pleasure gardens. Some became very popular and were indeed even found in oral tradition in the 19th and 20th centuries. They were absorbed into the repertoires of the different hunting fraternities along with their locally composed pieces. The style became a little more homely and a little less flowery in the 19th century as hunting became more of a pursuit of the middle classes, and I would guess this is from a 19th century piece as Bright Phoebus isn't mentioned and the language isn't over-artistic. It's not in any of the hunting anthologies I have.